Buying a Used Film Camera: What to Check Before You Pay

Almost every film camera for sale is decades old. Many still work perfectly; others have sticky shutters, failed meters or hazy lenses that won't show up until your first roll comes back. This checklist covers what to inspect, in person or from a seller's photos, before you pay.

Where to buy

Dedicated used camera dealers grade and test what they sell and usually offer a return period or warranty. Online auctions and marketplaces are cheaper but riskier: favor sellers who describe testing with film, and treat "untested" as "broken." Local camera shops, which you can find in the directory of film stores, let you handle a camera before buying.

Shutter

Fire every speed with the back open, pointing the camera at a light. Slow speeds should sound progressively longer; 1 second should sound like a second.
Look through the open shutter at fast speeds. You should see a brief full opening. A partly opened frame suggests uneven curtains.
Listen for hesitation on slow speeds, especially on leaf shutters, where old lubricant makes blades sticky.
Check the B setting holds open while the release is pressed.

Inexpensive shutter speed testers and phone apps can measure speeds more precisely. A shutter a third of a stop off is normal for its age; one that's three stops off needs service.

Light seals and mirror foam

The foam strips around the back door and the mirror bumper on many cameras from the 1960s to 1990s break down into a sticky or crumbling mess. Press a toothpick into them: if it leaves a dent or comes away sticky, they need replacing. This is a cheap, easy repair, but unreplaced seals cause light leaks.

Meter and batteries

Check the meter responds to light and roughly agrees with a phone app or the Sunny 16 rule. Find out what battery the camera takes: many older cameras were designed for 1.35V mercury cells that are no longer sold. Adapters, zinc-air cells or recalibration can solve this. Look inside the battery compartment for green corrosion that may have spread into the wiring.

Lens

Shine a flashlight through the lens from behind and look through it from the front at an angle. Look for:

Haze: an even cloudy film on internal elements. Light haze can be cleaned; it lowers contrast.
Fungus: branching threads or spiderweb spots. It can etch coatings permanently and spread to other lenses.
Separation: rainbow-colored or silvery patches near the edge, where cemented elements are coming apart.
Scratches and cleaning marks on the front element. Small ones rarely show in pictures; those on the rear element matter more.
Oil on the aperture blades: blades should be dry and snap closed quickly when you stop down.

A few specks of dust inside a lens are normal and harmless.

Body and film transport

Advance and fire repeatedly. The lever should move smoothly and the frame counter advance.
Check the rewind works and the take-up spool turns.
Look at the film rails and pressure plate for scratches or burrs that would scratch film.
On SLRs, check the viewfinder for a cracked or desilvered prism, which shows as dark bands.
Focus a rangefinder at infinity and on a near object to check the two images align.

What CLA means

CLA stands for clean, lubricate and adjust, a routine overhaul by a repair technician. A camera described as "recently CLA'd" with a receipt is worth more. If a camera has been sitting for decades, budgeting for a CLA is sensible, especially for leaf shutters and rangefinders. The directory of film camera repair services lists technicians who still work on film cameras.

The test roll

The only real test is film. Shoot a cheap roll at a range of speeds and apertures, including some frames in bright light against a dark background to show light leaks, and note what you did. The negatives will tell you more than any inspection. The guide to common film problems helps read the results.